logo
Mario was a worthy literary rival to Gabriel

Mario was a worthy literary rival to Gabriel

Gulf Today15-04-2025

With the death of Peru's novelist and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa at the age of 89 in Lima on Sunday, another star from the constellation of shining Latin American writers falls off. The other was Colombian novelist and Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The two were friends and ideological rivals. While Marquez was a much celebrated author in literary circles across the globe for his 'magical realism', Llosa was read, appreciated and respected for his literary genius among many readers in the same literary circles.
Llosa's style did not practise magical realism, but his narrative style was bold and brisk, touched the raw nerve of the reader to the quick, and told tales with a touch of casualness but there was nothing casual about them. Llosa practised the serious art of telling an important story with realistic overtones and moral implications, which were nuanced and even grey. This has to do with his relations to politics, which was more complicated than of Marquez.
Marquez had stuck to the generally acceptable leftist political spectrum, of critiquing capitalism with a gentle touch and with his innate sympathy for the poor and the oppressed. The touchstone of the writer's political commitment in Latin America was one's attitude towards the Cuban Revolution of 1960 and its leader Fidel Castro. Marquez remained an unwavering friend of Castro till the last. Llosa supported the Cuban Revolution and Castro. But he turned against Cuba, Castro and leftist politics because of the meaningless violence unleashed by the Shining Path, a leftist guerrilla movement in Peru. Llosa entered politics and fought the Peruvian presidential elections on the issue in 1980. He lost the election to the political outsider Alberto Fujimori.
Fujimori managed to curb the violence of Shining Path, and restored political and economic stability in Peru. But this came at a price. Fujimori became ruthless and killed people illegally and without compunction in the name of putting down leftist violence. He also became corrupt. He was tried and convicted, and later allowed to leave prison due to his age and he died in 2024.
Fujimori becomes a factor in Llosa's public life. Llosa was deeply disappointed by his electoral defeat, but it is not clear how he intended to tackle the leftist violence of the Shining Path. But Llosa soon recovered from his political trauma and realised that his calling was literature and not politics. And he remained the supreme master of his art.
He continued to write stories that held the attention of the reader because of the unfailing verve in his narration. He depicted the joie de vivre of life. It is not surprising that the conservative establishment in Peru and in Latin America loved him. It would not be right to call him a rightist because he was one in politics but not in literature.
His novels do not gloss over the moral ambiguities of life. This was best portrayed in his novella, 'In Praise of My Step-Mother' where evil and eroticism cast a long shadow. The narration mesmerises but the uneasiness in the mind of the reader remains. This requires an artist who sees clearly the many shades of life.
Like a true artist, Llosa had the ability and capacity to look at life with clear eyes. This is what makes him a great writer. Latin American countries have been through political storms through the 20th century, and these unstable times threw up literary masters like Marquez and Llosa. It is a matter of great satisfaction that they viewed things from different political perspectives. As a result, we have novels very different from each, each one of them brilliant.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Colombian senator Uribe shows little response to treatment after shooting
Colombian senator Uribe shows little response to treatment after shooting

Al Etihad

time11 hours ago

  • Al Etihad

Colombian senator Uribe shows little response to treatment after shooting

9 June 2025 19:11 BOGOTA (REUTERS)Colombian senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, remains in critical condition and has shown little response to treatment after being shot in Bogota on Saturday, the hospital treating him said on 39, is a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party and was shot in the head as he was addressing a campaign event on Saturday in a public park in the capital."His condition is extremely serious," the Santa Fe Foundation hospital said in a statement. "Therefore the prognosis remains cautious."The shooting, which was caught on video, has shaken Colombia, evoking the political violence of previous comes from a prominent political family. His grandfather Julio Cesar Turbay was president from 1978 to 1982 and his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 during a rescue operation after being kidnapped by an armed group led by drug lord Pablo Escobar. He is not related to former president Alvaro Uribe, has for decades been embroiled in conflict with leftist rebels and criminal groups descended from right-wing president Gustavo Petro has vowed to bring peace, negotiating with rebel groups to get them to put down their arms, but with little on Sunday said that he had ordered additional security for government officials and opposition members in response to more threats, though the details of the threats were not is not known why Uribe, who was vying for the candidacy of his party, was attacked. He was polling well behind other party candidates at the time of the shooting. A young teen found to be carrying a 9-mm pistol was arrested after the shooting.

Colombian presidential candidate successfully underwent surgery after shooting: Mayor
Colombian presidential candidate successfully underwent surgery after shooting: Mayor

Al Etihad

time2 days ago

  • Al Etihad

Colombian presidential candidate successfully underwent surgery after shooting: Mayor

8 June 2025 12:41 Bogotá (AFP)A prominent Colombian presidential candidate who was shot during a campaign event in Bogota has successfully undergone initial surgery, the city's mayor said on Senator Miguel Uribe was speaking to supporters in the capital when a gunman shot him twice in the head and once in the knee before being detained.A security guard managed to detain the suspected attacker, a minor who is believed to be 15 years was airlifted to hospital in "critical condition" and underwent a "neurosurgical" and "peripheral vascular procedure," the Santa Fe Clinic in Bogota "overcame the first surgical procedure," Bogota mayor Carlos Fernando Galan told media, adding that he had entered "the critical hours" of wife, in an audio recording shared with media, said "he came out well from the surgery.""He fought the first battle and fought it well. He is fighting for his life," she is heard from the scene of the shooting showed Uribe slumped against the hood of a white car, smeared with blood, as a group of men tried to hold him and stop the suspect was injured in the affray and was receiving treatment, said police director Carlos Fernando others -- a man and a woman -- were also wounded, and a Glock-style firearm was seized."Our hearts are broken, Colombia hurts," Carolina Gomez, a 41-year-old businesswoman, told AFP as she prayed with candles for Uribe's health. 'Day of pain' The motive for the attack is not yet publicly known. Colombia's defense minister Pedro Sanchez vowed to use law enforcement's full capabilities and offered a roughly $725,000 reward for information about who was behind the a video address to the nation posted on social media, President Gustavo Petro also promised investigations to find the perpetrators of the "day of pain"."What matters most today is that all Colombians focus with the energy of our hearts, with our will to live ... on ensuring that Dr Miguel Uribe stays alive."In an earlier statement, Petro condemned the violence as "an attack not only against his person, but also against democracy, freedom of thought, and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia."The shooting was similarly condemned across the political spectrum and from overseas, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it "a direct threat to democracy."Uribe, a strong critic of Petro, is a member of the Democratic Center party, which announced last October his intention to run in the 2026 presidential said there was no specific threat made against the politician before the incident. Like many public figures in Colombia, Uribe had close personal country is home to several armed guerrilla groups, powerful cartels and has a long history of political violence. Shot 'from behind' Uribe is the son of Diana Turbay, a famed Colombian journalist who was killed after being kidnapped by Pablo Escobar's Medellin of his grandfathers was president Julio Cesar Turbay, who led the country from 1978 to gathered outside the Bogota hospital, lighting candles as they prayed for his party said in a statement Saturday that an "armed individual" had shot the senator from has been a senator since 2022. He previously served as Bogota's government secretary and city councilor. He also ran for city mayor in 2019, but lost that election.

Colombian senator Uribe fighting for life after shooting
Colombian senator Uribe fighting for life after shooting

Dubai Eye

time2 days ago

  • Dubai Eye

Colombian senator Uribe fighting for life after shooting

Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, was fighting for his life in hospital after being shot during a campaign event in Bogota on Saturday, according to his wife and government and party authorities. The Colombian Attorney General's Office said in a statement that "a minor under 15 years of age was arrested carrying a Glock pistol-type firearm (9mm)", and President Gustavo Petro ordered an investigation into who had ordered the attack. The 39-year-old senator, a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Centre party, was shot during a 2026 presidential campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighbourhood in the capital on Saturday, according to a party statement condemning the attack. The party said in a statement "armed subjects shot him from behind" and described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details on Uribe's condition. Uribe's wife Maria Claudia Tarazona wrote on her husband's account on X that he was "fighting for his life". People gathered outside the Santa Fe Foundation hospital where Uribe was being treated, some staged candlelight vigils and prayed, while others carried Colombian flags. Colombia's Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said a suspect had been arrested in the shooting and that authorities were investigating whether others were involved. Sanchez said he had visited the hospital where Uribe was being treated. The government is offering some $730,000 as a reward for information in the case. Colombia's presidency issued a statement saying the government "categorically and forcefully" rejected the violent attack, and called for a thorough investigation into the events that took place. Leftist President Gustavo Petro sympathized with the senator's family in a message on X saying, "I don't know how to ease your pain. It is the pain of a mother lost, and of a homeland." Petro later said in a speech on Saturday night that the person arrested was a minor and that the investigation would focus on finding who had ordered the attack. "For now there is nothing more than hypothesis," Petro said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into. The United States' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the US "condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination" of Uribe, blaming Petro's "inflammatory rhetoric" for the violence. Uribe, who is not yet an official presidential candidate for his party, is from a prominent family in Colombia. His father was a businessman and union leader. His mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was kidnapped in 1990 by an armed group under the command of the late cartel leader Pablo Escobar. She was killed during a rescue operation in 1991. Colombia has for decades been embroiled in a conflict between leftist rebels, criminal groups descended from right-wing paramilitaries, and the government.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store